The government has received bids worth Rs 1,49,454 crore from the auction of the 5G spectrum at the end of the second day, which is nearing double the amount received for the 4G spectrum auction in 2021.
The 4G spectrum auction in March 2021 fetched Rs Rs 77,814.80. The auction in 2021 was concluded in two days. However, the 5G spectrum auction is set to get longer.
In both cases, substantial amounts of bids were done on the first day of the auction itself.
In the case of the 5G auction, the first day attracted bids worth Rs 1.45 lakh crore. On the second day, incremental bids worth around Rs 4,000 crore were received.
In the case of the 4G spectrum auction in 2021, the value of incremental bids on the second day stood for Rs 668.20 crore.
The auction for the 5G spectrum will continue for the third day on Thursday.
A comparison of the two day figures shows that the 5G spectrum auction fetched Rs 71,639.2 crore more than the 4G spectrum auction of 2021. In percentage term, it is 92.06 per cent higher.
As the 5G spectrum auction is scheduled to continue for the third day, the gap between the amount fetched through the 5G spectrum auction and 4G spectrum auction is set to increase.
Only three firms - Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, Bharti Airtel Limited, Vodafone Idea Limited - participated in the 4G spectrum auction in March 2021.
In the 5G spectrum auction, four compes are participating. These are Reliance Jio Infocomm Limited, Bharti Airtel Limited, Vodafone Idea Limited and Ad Data Networks Limited.
Mukesh Amb-led Reliance Jio has been the most aggressive in the bids followed by Sunil Bharti Mittal-led Bharti Airtel.
This is evident from the earnest money deposit (EMD) done by the firms. Put together the four compes have deposited Rs 21,800 crore as EMD.
More than half of this amount is by Reliance Jio Infocomm, which is the largest telecom operator in India. Reliance Jio Infocomm has put in Rs 14,000 crore as EMD followed by Bharti Airtel Limited at Rs 5,500 crore.
Vodafone Idea Limited has deposited Rs 2,200 crore as EMD for the 5G auction while EMD amount of Ad Data Networks stands at Rs 100 crore.
EMD amounts give a broad indication of the company's plan for picking up the spectrum in an auction. The EMD determines the eligibility points, through which telcos target a specific amount of spectrum in a given circle.
With its EMD at Rs 14,000 crore, the eligibility points assigned to Reliance Jio Infocomm for the auction stand at 1,59,830, DoT data showed. Eligibility points allocated to Bharti Airtel stand at 66,330 and for Vodafone Idea Limited it stands at 29,370. The eligibility points allocated to Ad Data Networks Ltd are the lowest at 1,650.
( With inputs from ANI )
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